Over the years, I have found organizing my digital stash to be a huge monkey on my back. If you don’t do it too often, you can’t find anything. Organizing regularly takes up time that I would rather be scrapping. Sometimes, the amount of products I get just overwhelms the amount of time I am willing to use to organize. My system is by no means perfect, but there are some tricks that I have learned for keeping my stash organized without spending a lot of time doing it.
I work exclusively in ACDSee 16, as that it what I am accustomed to. The tips I will share here today are not specific to ACDSee, nor do I expect everyone is going to start using ACDSee right after they read this post.
So to start out, when I purchase an item from the store, it goes directly into a folder called “Downloads.” I have it set up so that anything I download goes directly into this folder, where it waits for me to do something with it. Nothing usually stays in this folder for too long.
Once I am ready to start working with the products I have purchased, I go into my downloads folder and select all of the zip files. Through ACDSee, I can unzip them all at once by choosing “Extract To Folder.” Most computers have a similar way to do this, and I also know that there are some programs that are created just for bulk extraction of files. I try to extract my downloads pretty soon after purchase, as I don’t like having zips hanging around on my computer.
The files are extracted directly to my “To Be Tagged” Folder. This is basically the holding bin. Once a file is unzipped into the To Be Tagged folder, it could stay here for some time, depending on when I go in and start organizing. In the past, I’ve organized everything in the folder, whether it was used or not. Recently, I have started only tagging something once I’ve used it. There are a couple reasons for this. First, I can easily see what things I still have not used. In the past, I would tag something and it would fall into the abyss of my computer and it would never get used. Second, I have become much more selective on what I keep and tag. As a CT Member and a Guest Polly, I get a lot of product that I use right away to help the designers promote their goods. Often, I won’t use these kits again after I’ve scrapped with them – so I delete them. At first there was a lot of guilt and worry – should I just use it and throw it out? What if I wanted that one word art again? One thing I’ve learned in the digi community is that there is always going to be another kit, another word art – I can’t horde everything forever. Now, I just keep the kits and products that I feel are likely that I’ll use again. Versatile kits, basic frames, element packs like tape or tags – they all get to stay. The kits about going to the zoo, while cute and made for a great CT layout, it doesn’t get to stick around because it’s unlikely I’ll use that zoo kit again. Once I’ve deleted what I don’t plan on keeping, I can start tagging.
This is where everyone’s systems differ. In ACDSee, I can leave products in a general “Supplies” folder, and then tag them with multiple tags to use when I want to search for an item. Other people actually sort and move the files to specific folders. Whatever the case, we can all agree that there are certain categories we use to organize our stash. I started with the biggies: Kits, Elements, Actions and Styles, Alphas, and Templates. From there, Kits was broken down to show BYOC (Build Your Own Collab from here at The Pad) and Memory Pockets Monthly so that I can find those products quickly. Templates was also broken down into 12×12 pages, pocket pages, journal cards, and MISC. This way I can narrow my focus when I am looking for a template to use. Recently I started organizing by designer as well. This way I can pull up everything I have from each designer at once. In the future, I am going to start breaking down the Elements tag and sorting those based on what they are. Once everything is tagged, it is moved from the To Be Tagged folder into my general Supplies folder where it waits for me to use it again.
Sorting, organizing, and tagging your digital stash is a very personal project to work on. Everyone has a slightly different approach, and organizes to best fit their style of scrapbooking. Hopefully, by sharing my workflow today, I’ve given you some tips to think about next time you are organizing your digital stash.
renne says
Wow! Great ideas Aaron! Thanks for sharing them!
Ellen says
I don’t know what I would do without ACDSee. I’ve used it for many years
Cherylann says
Can I drag and drop my digital scrapbooking elements from ACDSee 16 directly into PhotoshopCS6?